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Lava Core Beta

RR: 8.0

Sharpknux has put a lot of good ideas and clever design touches into this one. You can see the actual "core" in this screenshot, but there is plenty more to the map as well. With Quake III rusty metal textures, some fine stonework, and more, it is as if Sharpknux has been inspired by some of SLAM's recent maps.

However, Sharp is an ideas man; with him it isn't how many days it takes to make a map, it's how many maps he can make in a day. A lot of these are fine maps, but he does have to cut corners to work at that speed. I notice that this screenshot shows a small gap between the stone wall and the metal walkway; it is really no big deal, you can't fall down it or anything - but it does detract from the "reality" of this large central area if a main part of it is not properly supported.

I am way out of my depth here, but one thing Sharp saves time on is lighting in his maps; you sometimes find your weapon if in shadow, even if you are standing in a fairly bright field, and just relying on default lighting often drains the life out of a texture. Tunnels can be pale and bland, with no clear indication how long they are; edges can lose definition, so that you just have two different colours that touch, without an actual sharp edge to demonstrate that this is a physical boundary. There are some excellent textures here, and a fine design, with elevators, hidden doorways, teleport points overt and covert. This map is an extremely promising one, and it is fun to explore in and fight in; it is encouraging that it is being released as a beta, because it does need some more work on it before it can achieve its potential. I expect that that will be boring work, working with lights, and maybe changing one flight of stairs, one long flight of stairs, so that you can run up, instead of having to keep jumping to make any progress. Getting rid of little gaps. Generally tidying up, and tweaking, and fussing over things, taking the time in which at least two more interesting, perfectly decent maps could have been made. Boring work - but work that has to be done.




			Lava Core Beta RR: 8.0 Sharpknux has put a lot of good ideas and clever design touches into this one. You can see the actual "core" in this screenshot, but there is plenty more to the map as well. With Quake III rusty metal textures, some fine stonework, and more, it is as if Sharpknux has been inspired by some of SLAM's recent maps. However, Sharp is an ideas man; with him it isn't how many days it takes to make a map, it's how many maps he can make in a day. A lot of these are fine maps, but he does have to cut corners to work at that speed. I notice that this screenshot shows a small gap between the stone wall and the metal walkway; it is really no big deal, you can't fall down it or anything - but it does detract from the "reality" of this large central area if a main part of it is not properly supported. I am way out of my depth here, but one thing Sharp saves time on is lighting in his maps; you sometimes find your weapon if in shadow, even if you are standing in a fairly bright field, and just relying on default lighting often drains the life out of a texture. Tunnels can be pale and bland, with no clear indication how long they are; edges can lose definition, so that you just have two different colours that touch, without an actual sharp edge to demonstrate that this is a physical boundary. There are some excellent textures here, and a fine design, with elevators, hidden doorways, teleport points overt and covert. This map is an extremely promising one, and it is fun to explore in and fight in; it is encouraging that it is being released as a beta, because it does need some more work on it before it can achieve its potential. I expect that that will be boring work, working with lights, and maybe changing one flight of stairs, one long flight of stairs, so that you can run up, instead of having to keep jumping to make any progress. Getting rid of little gaps. Generally tidying up, and tweaking, and fussing over things, taking the time in which at least two more interesting, perfectly decent maps could have been made. Boring work - but work that has to be done.